THAT'S A WRAP. Thank you all for your support! I loved this blog. Loved running it, loved writing it, loved coordinating contributing posts, and loved reading and responding to your emails. But truth be told, it was alot of work, I was on the road alot, daily applying the content of these posts to my own music career, and sinking in an ever-flowing, never-ending inbox of emails from you all...all while trying to write and post 2 weekly articles and update the older ones! Thank you for reading! I will never forget the day we reached 18,000 hits. I will keep this domain alive as long as I can so that you can always access the content. Much love to you all, Joy

7 Tips for Boosting Online Merch Sales During the Holidays

1. Spruce Up Your Store

Admit it. People rarely visit your online store. People just aren’t buying hard copies like they used to. And if they are, they’re getting them at the live show to commemorate their time at an awesome concert. So how do you get people to visit your store? Give it some holiday pizazz (yep, just used that word). Make it shiny. Give it a holiday feel. Encourage people to stop over and check out the “Holiday Store” for some great deals. Remind people that this is a temporary sale through Dec 25th (or whatever date you choose). Curiosity will at least encourage them to stop by and check out what you have to offer. Here`s the store I created for my merchandise.

2. Give Them a Deal They Can’t Refuse

Remember, you’re promoting to your fans. This means that, if they are real-deal fans, they’ve already bought your album. And if they havent bought it yet, there’s a chance they might never buy it. Maybe they only like hearing you live. Regardless, holiday sales are just the perfect time to reel in the stragglers. Post a 50% off coupon code. Offer free shipping. Create Bundles. Come up with clever ways to package your shipments. If you’re $10 album is suddenly $5 for the month of December, that’s a sweet deal that’s hard to pass up for the die-hard fan! Or what about an addition 20% off sale price? There are so many ways you can go with this. Most store platforms have tools you can use to create discount codes and run special deals.

3. Use the Right Language

What about those people who’ve never bought your stuff or even heard of you? This is where you encourage your supporters to share your music “with family members or friends” who they know will enjoy your genre. Albums and Tshirts make for great “stocking stuffers” and simple gift ideas for co-workers or people you “don’t want to drop a bunch of money on”. Never underestimate the power of suggestions. What you say and how you say it will affect how people decided to support you through your store.

4. Create Bundles

Bundles are your key to a great Merchandise store during the holidays or any day of the year. Any time you can sweeten the deal for your fans by pairing items together, you should do it. Example: T-shirt is $15. Album is $10. Together they are $20. Save $5 and get the both of them. This kind of deal encourages the average visitor to go for the bundle instead of one singular item. What if you run a Tshirt/Album bundle that is $15 total. Can’t beat that offer! Christmas stores can be a dream come true for a fan who can’t afford to drop an extra $5-10 bucks. Remember, a lot of people are waiting for the holiday season to get things cheaper.

5. Personalize Your Shipments

Tell your fans that you will personally be mailing out each shipment. This means you can sell signed copies of your posters or albums, wrap the shipment with gift wrap and send it to its destination if the recipient is a 3rd party, or include a Christmas card. My favorite part of running a Christmas sales is having the fact that it allows me to be more personal with my fans. Examples 1 | Example 2

6. Have Something New

It’s hard to hype up a Christmas Store if you only have 1 or 2 items. Realistically, it’s not always financially feasible to have additional merch; but if you can, try to add something new. That could mean hoodies just for the holidays, or a 5-song Christmas EP. At this point, it’s probably not possible to create something new, but you can pull out your very first album that nobody knows exists, or give away something exclusive that no one can get anywhere else. Partnering with a friend who makes hand-made crafts is always a plus. New items always bring more traffic to your store and merch table at shows.

7. Increase the Time-Frame of Your Sale

Everyone`s inbox is flooded with awesome Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Forget that. Keep your sale going through the whole month of December. Give people time to visit your web store during the entire season, decide what they want to get, and take advantage of your coupon code after the dust settles from all those other sales.

Have you done other things to increase traffic and sales on your web store? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the author

Neat share of tips! Those are not just useful for the holidays but for other occasions as well like Valentines day, Back-to-School, Halloween, and a lot more. Aside from those, you could add in small freebies or tokens like a key chain or a desk calendar for those who will purchase several items in one go! For more internet marketing tips, visit: http://siteabove.com/.